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Sunday, April 29, 2012

I am thrilled to be joining in with Tots and Me to celebrate the birth of her precious baby boy. Her Baby Shower Celebration has been extended due to unforeseen circumstances. The following review was written by Tots and Me.

I was sent the Baby Aspen Baby M.D. Three-Piece Layette Set. I just fell in love with this outfit when I was browsing their site. It comes packaged in this cute little "doctor's bag."

And it unfolds to show it off all set up.

The outfit comes complete with a surgical hat and booties. And look closely, there is a stethoscope around the neck and even a pen in the pocket. I just love the cute little details. Such attention was given to detail that the stethoscope actually goes all the way around to the back of the neck. I was even able to have baby Harold's initials embroidered on. I just couldn't pass this up. It was the closest I could come to a nurses uniform. Daddy is an LPN and uncle is a P.A. (physician's assistant).

Doesn't he look so cute. Can you see this in his future?

Yes, it is a tad big for him yet. This is a 0-6 size so he has room to grow into it. Meaning he can wear it for a long time.

I think the addition of the booties was just priceless. It really looks like a doctor's outfit. I have to admit I left the booties attached to the outfit as they were packaged. He tends to kick socks and booties off and I didn't want to lose these booties.

Had to get a shot of daddy in his scrubs with the baby in his outfit. Don't they make a sweet pair.

I just love the idea behind this outfit and the quality is great . Mybabyclothes.com has some of the cutest and most unique outfits I have ever seen. You don't have anyone in the medical profession in your home? Not as interested in this outfit as I am? How about a Camo Layette Set

Or a Baseball Three Piece Layette Set

And that is only the tip of the iceberg! There are so many other baby clothes to choose from. Cute little hats for boys or girls can be found. And if you are looking specifically for a girl, they have the cutest tutus and headbands among so many other cute outfits and accessories. What are you waiting for? Head on over and check them out.

I am so thankful they agreed to help sponsor my Baby Shower Giveaway, and they have been so patient with me. What a great company this is.

And check out their internet newspaper for parents, Parentsnewz on Facebook and Twitter.

After you check out what they carry I am sure you would love to win a $25 GC so you can get something for yourself or perhaps as a baby shower gift. Just fill in the Rafflecopter below.

I have to mention that I know I do not usually have so many entries on my Rafflecopter forms. However, these wonderful ladies are helping to share my Baby Shower Celebration and I offered them a spot or two on said form. Remember, you don't have to fill in every entry (there are only 2 mandatory entries) but each entry you complete increases your chances for winning and I would love for you to follow these great ladies who are helping me.

Disclosure: I received the Baby Aspen Baby MD layette set for free as a part of my Baby Shower Celebration. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and will be good for my readers.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

My son had a sleepover for his birthday yesterday and while sitting up waiting for them to fall asleep I came up with some tips to share for hosting an Eco Friendly party. A fitting topic given that today is Earth Day.
Amidst all the chaos of planning and executing your party there are some easy ways to reduce your parties carbon footprint!

Serving Food

-use reusable items rather than disposable cutlery, dishware, napkins, etc. If you don't have enough, consider buying some extras at a thrift shop and store away for occasions such as this.
-if you have too many people attending to warrant using reusable dishware, there are lots of options to purchase biodegradable items.
-Make your own cake from scratch, avoiding the packaging included with a store bought or from buying cake mix.

Loot Bags
A friend of mine shared the first three ideas that she has used or will be using for her son's parties and I included some of our favourite ideas too!

-use paper bags (made of recycled paper) and decorate them at home, . Inside include a rock and paint set for child to make pet rock. They had their party at a nature centre and went with a nature theme.-packets of seeds for flowers or herbs, a clay pot and a magnifying glass or a book about gardens or seeds.
-sew your own loot bags. This would be a great way to use up scraps of fabric.
-think outside the box when it comes to party favors. Find unique reusable, quality items related to your theme. Kids love books, pens and notebooks, gift cards to ice cream shop, etc.
-Use multipurpose items. This year we bought popcorn tubs which were used to serve popcorn during the party and sent home with the kids to hold their loot bag items, rather than a throwaway plastic bag. In previous years, we have had kids decorate paper bags as a craft activity and used them as loot bags.
-home made items, such as silly putty and play dough are great items to make.

Presents

-You can always include suggestions for presents that match your lifestyle- create a registry online to refer people too, give suggestions to family members or let them know your child is saving towards special item.
-Have family contribute to education savings plan for the birthday child
-One year we asked each child to bring $4 in lieu of a gift, $2 was donated to food bank and the other $2 went to our son who was saving to buy Thomas the train toys. This saved us from pile of plastic gifts that he didn't necessarily wanted and saved on gas from not having to go and return any duplicates.
-If tissue paper is gently and it can be reused later if in great condition. And of course gift bags can be reused for the next time your child has a party to attend.

Decorations/Invites
-make your own party decorations if you are crafty or buy items that can be reused such as banners, posters, etc. Kids can help to decorate with paint, markers, stickers, etc.
-make your own invites using recycled or seed paper.
-skip the paper invitations- Use Facebook to create an event or email people you are inviting. You could also print on recycled paper or seed paper.

The added bonus to many of these ideas as not only are they good for the planet, many of them are also good for your wallet, saving you money!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

I am joining in with Tots and Me to celebrate the birth of her baby boy. Her baby shower celebration has been extended into April due to unforeseen circumstances. The review that follows is written by Tots and Me

We were sent an Angry Birds Body Suit and a Angry Birds Marquisette Blanket to try out. I have to tell you I was a little leery at first with it being Angry Birds. I had hardly ever heard of them. I was not sure if this was a show or a video game or what. And the name doesn't sound very babyish. (What can I say, I don't pay attention to popular culture, never have). Little did I know that,

"Angry Birds by Rovio is a phenomenally popular game. Angry Birds is the

fastest growing brand in the world with over 600 million downloads. Little

boys and girls, teens, men, women, grandmas and grandpas - all love playing

Angry Birds. The game is entertaining to people of all ages, genders and

geographies, and is fun for family members to play together during snuggle

time"

After receiving the blanket and bodysuit I decided the Angry Birds were quite cute and suddenly my hubby was
obsessed with the game on his phone.

The blanket has become one of my favorites to wrap baby Harold up in. I have to say I have another Swaddle Designs receiving blanket. Right about the same time I was contacted with an affirmative from Swaddle Designs to help sponsor my Baby Shower Celebration, I also won an Ultimate Receiving Blanket. While I like the Ultimate Receiving Blanket I still struggle to swaddle with the material of this blanket being thicker. It is a lovely blanket and I use it for multiple things. However, the marquisette blanket is a thinner material and easier for me to swaddle with. Here is a description from their site:

" SwaddleDesigns Marquisette Swaddling Blanket is made from premium cotton in a lightweight open weave design. Marquisette is similar to gauze, however marquisette has a softer hand because of the finer threads and higher thread count. SwaddleDesigns offers the finest, highest quality lightweight swaddling cloths on the market."

I love the large size of these blankets. At first I
struggled with them being so big. But after some practice, using the instructions sewn onto the blanket, I have been able to swaddle the baby successfully.

Ta-da:

Sometimes he will calm down as soon as he realizes he is being wrapped up.

The only problem I am having now is that he prefers his arms out.

By the way, the rolled up blanket that is helping to prop him up is an Ultimate Receiving Blanket. I have to practice some more with the thicker material to get it to swaddle nicely. But it makes a nice support or regular blanket. Plus I am sure it would make a great cover up for nursing or maybe a floor blanket for play when he gets older.

The quality of both is remarkable, very highly recommended.

You may have noticed in the above pictures that he is wearing his Angry Birds bodysuit. I just love it. Swaddle Designs carries both long sleeve and short sleeve body suits. They sent us a short sleeve one to review. Which is perfect seeing as the weather is getting warmer. In the picture below it was a chillier day and he was wearing a long sleeve onesie underneath it.

The quality of the body suit is wonderful. It is made of soft 100% cotton knit and has just the right amount of stretch to it. The neck opening expands perfectly, no snaps to worry about there. Speaking of snaps, the ones in the crotch area are great. Having had many baby outfits over the years, I have had snaps that are too hard to open, some that are too hard to close, some that are both. I also have dealt with snaps that won't stay closed. These snaps stay closed
wonderfully and they are not too hard to snap or undo. Just right.

Once again, very highly recommended.

Okay, so I have to share two more pictures. I have tried the body suit with two different outfits and would love to know which you think is cuter. This will be in the Rafflecopter for some easy extra entries.

A) Over the top of a long sleeve onesie with red pants.

B) No extra onesie with denim pants.

The one concern I did have with the body suit is that the red rim cuff is a little tighter than some of the other body suits we have and it was a bit of a struggle to get the long sleeves pulled through without bunching up. Other than that, the bodysuit is perfect.

You can purchase your own Angry Birds Bodysuits and marquisette receiving blankets, as well as many other designs from Swaddle Design. The body suits come with your choice of bird in a small image or large image (as shown above). The blankets come with your choice of bird or with the multi bird print (as shown above). Personally I like the multi-bird print. They also carry Ultimate Receiving Blankets, Swaddle Duos, Baby Lovies, Baby Burpies, zzZipMe Sacks and plush toys in the Angry Birds Collection.

Just fill in the Rafflecopter form below. I have to mention that I know I do not usually have so many entries on my Rafflecopter forms. However, these wonderful ladies are helping to share my Baby Shower Celebration and I offered
them a spot or two on said form. Remember, you don't have to fill in every entry (there are only 2 mandatory entries) but each entry you complete increases your chances for winning and I would love for you to follow these great ladies who are helping me.

Disclosure: I received an Angry Birds Bodysuit and Marqisette Blanket for free as a part of my Baby Shower Celebration. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and will be good for my readers.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

I saw this opportunity last night to sign up for free for a giveaway event and knew I needed to make sure I got on this morning to post about signing up so I could be a part of it. Want to join in on the fun, check out the info below for details on signing up or to come back and enter to win.

Join me in a FREE Blogger Event! You can have your Facebook link added for FREE, and CouponTrade.com and The Ultimate Baby Shower will provide the prize, $200 PayPal Cash!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

My husband shot this picture as we driving home yesterday from our mini-vacation. He used a popular technique called HDR (High Dynamic Range Photography) to enhance the colours. The beautiful weather (minus all the wind) we got made for a wonderful drive home.

Please link up your Wordless (or Wordy) Wednesday Post below so I can check it out!

Monkey Along With Us

Tara

About Me

I am mom to a 14 year old son (N) and 8 year old daughter (K). I work full time outside the home and my husband (J) is a SAHD. And because life would not be complete without a dog, we also have a two year old Labradoodle.

Join us for stories of our daily lives, challenges and fun times! I will also provide any helpful tips and info I have and reviews of products that help make our family life easier or that we just love.